Woop! Gallifrey burning time! Over the next two episodes, the Master and Amy will be making their way through the Time War, discovering parts of the Master and the Doctor's history. I'll try to incorporate all the mentioned but unseen references to the Time War (eg. The Nightmare Child) either I these two or later in the story. I hope you enjoy. Please review! :)

"What did you just say?" Amy asked, staggering to her feet, wiping the ash from her hair.

"The Time War," the Master replied standing, seemingly unfazed, amongst the burning rubble of Gallifrey. "The war between the Time Lords and the Daleks that sent shockwaves throughout the universe. Every races felt the destruction. Every race fled for the stars as they too burned and crumbled into the havoc. Horrors were created. New ways of killing. New ways of dying. There was no other choice, no other way but to continue through until the bitter end."

"And he ended it," Amy recalled, cowering as flames billowed from a building behind her. "The Doctor, he ended it all."

"He did not end it, he destroyed it!" the Master spat. "He took our home and he burned it."

Amy just watched. It was all she could do. Daleks ships were firing over the planet, engulfing it in an explosive siege as there ships too were blown out of the sky, scattering over the ground like machine gun bullets. The air was hot and amber with flames, alive with screams and fear.

"How long has it gone on for?" Amy asked, a tear forming in her eyes.

"Years," the Master replied.

"Like this – continuously."

"Yes."

"How did he did it? How did he end the war?"

"He burned it. It took the Moment, a weapon so advanced, so deadly that it became. It grew its own mind, but even its judgement and its horror could prevent the Doctor from butchering millions. He killed them all, Amy. Not just the Daleks, or the soldiers, or the killers, or the politicians – he killed everyone. He killed the mothers and the daughters. The sons and the fathers. He killed the peaceful protestors and those who vowed never to shed blood, the sick, the wounded, the elderly . . . And the children. He destroyed everything to end the war."

"And was it worth it?"

The Master turned to Amy. His eyes were glaring, turning red. "Was it worth it?" he snapped. "He tore apart our home. Our history. Our people. That man is worse than any Dalek."

"But he did it for peace, yeah?" Amy coughed as ash filled her lungs. "Because as you said, the entire universe, every race would've been pulled into this. Surely it was better to destroy two races than let them all be destroyed in the feud. He killed your people and he killed the Daleks but he saved the universe!" Amy cried. "I'm not defending what he did. But I wouldn't be here without him. And I dare to say that you wouldn't either. He's told me about you. The Axons. Bringing back Gallifrey. Martha Jones walking the Earth for the year that never was to save the earth from the Toclofane."

"You have no right!" the Master barked, storming towards Amy. "No right to say any of that!"

"You don't scare me!" Amy screamed. "Right now, we are just as vulnerable as anyone on this planet. Is that what you're going to become? Another killer?"

"I've killed before," the Master replied.

"And where did that start? When did that start? When did you turn from that little child into the monster you are today. Forget the drumming in your head; I don't give a damn how mad you are. When did the killing begin? I'd bet my life that it began here, in battle. And I bet that the Doctor would've tried to save you," Amy challenged.

"Really?" the Master sneered. "I won't tell you. I'll show you. Follow me and I'll show you the very moment I became the Master."

The war continued. The Master and Amy hid behind a barrier, created from shards of crumpled buildings, babies' cots and metal statues. They hurried, silently, along the barrier, forcing their heads down to avoid the Dalek shots from ahead.

"How much further?" Amy asked, covering her eyes as a section of the barrier was dislodged in a ball of flames.

"Not much longer," the Master replied. "But we're about to cross the Omega Square."

"That's bad, right?" Amy guessed.

"Omega Square is at the heart of Arcadia. When Omega Square fell, Arcadia followed. Dalek's will swamp to the Square, but we were waiting. We barely survive, however, and the Daleks took control," the Master explained.

"We?" Amy inquired.

"This is where I fought. On the front line. Keep your head down and move quickly," the Master warned, dragging Amy along with him across the barrier.

Suddenly, the Master was knocked to the ground. A Dalek was fired through the barrier, spinning through the air as it was engulfed with flames, swiping the Master to the ground, taking metal and debris with it. The Master was helpless, his foot trapped under the Dalek and the rest of his body under shrapnel. All Amy could do was gasp.

"Help me!" the Master wailed. "Amy, get me out of here!"

Amy stammered – too shocked. "Erm . . . Help! HELP! Someone help us!" It was useless. Everyone was screamed. Everyone needed help. She was just another voice to many. "Hey! You!" Amy screamed, catching the attention of an Arcadian Soldier as he ran past. "I need your help! Quickly!"

"Yes. Of course," the soldier agreed, running to Amy. Then he slowed down, grinding to a halt as he spotted the Dalek that lay over the Master. A grin split across his face. "Good spot! Stand back. You won't want to get burned by one of these suckers. They've been packed with dynamite to take out even more of us," the soldier smiled, gesturing for Amy to step back as he raised his gun to the Dalek's eyestalk.

"No, no, wait!" Amy cried, pushing the gun down. "Save him first. We need to get him out!"

"You don't seem to understand. That's a Dalek. It's our duty to wipe every stinking Dalek out of the universe. No exceptions."

"But we need to save him first! It'll only take a minute. Don't just fight – save a life," Amy persuaded him, looking up into the soldier's eyes.

He buckled. "Ok. But I'll need a hand. And you," he instructed the Master, "roll out as soon as you get the chance. Now help me lift the Dalek." The soldier gestured for Amy to take one side of the Dalek whilst he took the other, getting a strong grasp from underneath. "Everyone ready? On three. One. Two. Three!"

As the soldier and Amy lifted the Dalek, gritting their teeth, the Master crawled to safety from underneath. The moment the Master was free, Amy and the soldier dropped the Dalek to the ground – a bad mistake. The Dalek began to wake, its eye flashing with blue light and its gun twitching.

"Alert! Alert! Dalek unit in distress! Dalek unit has been injured! Commence self-destruct sequence in five rells!" it shrieked. "One!"

"Run!" the soldier ordered.

"Two!"

"Come on!" Amy cried, pulling the Master off his knees as he struggled to stand.

"Three!"

"Hurry!" the soldier cried, grabbing Amy's hand and pulling her away from the Dalek.

"Four!"

"It's gonna blow!" Amy screamed.

"Five!"

The Dalek was engulfed with flames. The Master, Amy and the soldier were flung through the air, their backs singed in the explosion that rippled out in all directions. They landed in a heap of rubble as chunks of the Dalek's shell were scattered through the air. Ears rang.

"Is everyone ok?" the soldier inquired, staggering to his feet, rolled the Master and Amy onto their backs. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," the Master replied, coughing and spluttering to get the ash out his throat.

"How about you? Can you hear me?" the soldier asked Amy, shaking her limp body. "She's not responding."

"Then help her!" the Master ordered with a spit. "Use your regeneration powers – you're a Time Lord. Save her."

"But I need to fight! I need all my powers, all my regenerations if I'm going to save Arcadia."

"All I'm asking is for one. Bring her back," the Master commanded.

The soldier hesitated, balancing the worth of his life and of Amy's; a complete stranger. He looked at her – a dying, beautiful woman would could only be saved by him. "Ok," he decided, kneeling down beside Amy. He placed his thumbs before Amy's ears and the rest of his hands behind. With closed eyes and deepest concentration, he let the amber light of his regeneration spill out over Amy, crawling over her body until she was covered, glowing in it. When he was finished, he pulled his hands away, grinning a little as she rolled over, coughing her way back into consciousness.

"I should get going," the soldier announced.

"Yes, I think you should," the Master agreed.

"Wish me luck."

"I don't think you'll need it."

The soldier nodded, and with that, he disappeared back into the flames and screams.

Amy sat up, confused by the darkness and the burning around her. "Where did he go? Where did the soldier go?"

"Off to war," the Master replied. "Off to watch as Arcadia falls."

"And you just let him go?" Amy cried. "He saved your life and you just let him go? We didn't even know his name!"

"Yes we did!" the Master snapped.

"Ok then – who was he?" Amy asked.

"He was me," the Master replied. "He was the Master."

"What?" Amy gasped. "But he looked nothing like you! He was young!"

"Exactly. He was the first me. The first Master, but of course, I wasn't the Master yet. I grew up here, on Gallifrey, and when the time came, I thought at Arcadia on the last days of The Great Time War. The Doctor had swanned off by then, living his new life with pretty Earth girls and pin-striped suits. I stayed and I thought, eventually regenerating. When my regenerations ran out, I died, but thousands of years in the past, the Time War was still in its beginnings. They resurrected me to fight once more on the front lines at the Cruciform. I was scared so I fled, hiding myself as a human. I eventually found my Time Lord form and became the man I am today," the Master explained, watching his very first body finally disappear in smoke.

"How did you survive this day?" Amy asked.

"That's where to Doctor comes in. Follow and I'll show you."

Did you enjoy? Please write a review or ask any questions - I WILL ANSWER! I'll update again soon :)